A D.C. woman has been arrested in connection with the murder of Shaw Middle School principal Brian Betts, both NBC4 and the Washington Post are reporting. Montgomery County police took a 46-year-old woman into custody this morning in the 5300 block of Fifth Street NW. She’s been charged with crimes that are linked to the death of Brian Betts, including allegedly using Brian Betts’s credit card over the past several days, but is not charged with his murder.
Police are still looking for another individual known to the suspect who is currently in custody, and possibly additional suspects beyond that, according to reports.
UPDATE: Via the Examiner, police have released the female suspect’s name, along with a few more details:
Montgomery County Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur said 46-year-old Artura Otey Williams was arrested Monday on two counts of credit card misuse. Baur said additional charges against her are likely, but they will not be murder. Police said Williams used slain Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson principal Brian Betts’ stolen credit cards over the past few days. Betts was found killed in his Silver Spring home on April 15.
Authorities say they have a murder warrant for a man who is closely connected to Williams and they are searching for him. Others beyond those two also are expected to be charged in relation to the murder, including two juveniles.
No word on whether the two juvenile suspects police mentioned might have any connection to Betts’s career as an educator.